The Evolution Theory
by CJ10
Summary: "See how easily you submit to your superior," he whispered in a cruel mockery of intimacy, and even in her rage, her body betrayed her with a shudder as his warm breath ghosted over the shell of her ear. "Just how defenceless you truly are, Ms Xavier." Erik/OC (XMEN-FC)
1. Chapter 1

**THE EVOLUTION THEORY**

_Disclaimer: I don't own the X-Men universe and am not profiting from this work._

**CHAPTER ONE**

"C'mon, we're going to miss the commencement speech if you take any longer!"

Rolling her eyes at the slightly panicked call from somewhere downstairs, Ana did her best to twist her hair into a casual bun at the back of her head and failing miserably for the twelfth time. She intended for her hairdo to look informal but groomed, instead of the unkempt mess it kept turning into. Silently cursing Raven for always being able to pull off the casual and pretty look with such ease, the slightly frustrated girl eventually gave up and just pulled her blonde locks up into a ponytail.

Giving her appearance another quick perusal in the full length mirror next to her dresser, she turned and bounded out of the bedroom and towards the large staircase leading towards the foyer, taking two stairs at a time.

"Took you long enough, Ana. Really, I just can't wrap my mind around you girls and your obsession with your appearance."

Heading out the front door, Ana stuck my tongue out at her brother, who had been impatiently waiting for her on the threshold. "Well, lucky for you then that you didn't pursue Behavioural Science, otherwise we wouldn't be on our way right now to see you get handed your PhD."

"Very funny, Ana, you're slow _and_ hilarious. Now get in the bloody car," Charles nearly growled, motioning towards the driveway where Raven was already behind the wheel of her Beetle convertible. They both climbed in, Ana folding herself into the backseat while Charles seated himself in the front next to Raven. "If I'm late because of your insufferable vanity, I swear to god, I will throw out all your make up and creams and whatever rubbish you insist on wasting time on before stepping foot outside the door!"

Gasping in outrage, Ana glared proverbial daggers at the back of his head. "You wouldn't dare."

"We'll find out soon enough, won't we," he threatened, before giving a surprised yelp as the girl leaned over to pinch his elbow through his suit jacket.

Raven had already driven them out the front gate as she gave a loud groan and threw stern looks at both of her sibling, one through the rear-view mirror. "Cut it out, the both of you. I've had enough of your bickering for today." And she meant it, having already suffered through an entire morning of taunts being thrown back and forth all the way through breakfast.

Luckily, her scolding had its desired effect and both quieted down, only huffing in irritation as they turned to look out of their respective windows. Honestly, the effect these two had on each other, reverting back to petulant pre-schoolers. She loved them both, both it drove her mad at times.

The rest of the drive to Oxford was made in silence, only broken by Charles as they found a decent parking space and his excitement about the upcoming event once more shined through. "I can't believe I'm finally graduating," he breathed, a small smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth. "Goodbye student life, hello Professor Xavier."

Making their way towards the Sheldonian Theatre where the graduation ceremony was being held, Raven walked in between her brother and sister, throwing her arms around both of their shoulders.

While she was nearly Charles' height with her high-heeled boots, it was considerably easier with Ana, who was only a mere five foot five in just her flats. "Ready to give your grand speech, Professor?" She teased, giving his shoulder a little squeeze.

He grimaced slightly at that, suddenly reminded of having been given that specific honour. "I hope I don't botch it up because of nerves, that would be embarrassing. Set the tone for the rest of my career, most likely."

"You, nervous? Pff," Raven tried reassuring him, voice full of confidence. "Besides, if you do get nervous, I heard that picturing the audience naked helps." Then, thinking on it more, she pulled a face. "Except for the faculty, of course, because... ew."

Charles had begun to chuckle, before Ana cut in with a sideway smirk. "Shouldn't be too difficult for Charlie, since he's already seen most of the female grads naked."

This had both girls snickering, while he chose wisely not to comment on her rather astute remark. His sisters never missed out on an opportunity to tease him on his luck with the ladies.

The rest of the day passed by rather quickly, with the girls watching the ceremony patiently only to whoop and holler embarrassingly as their brother finally rose up to accept his degree. Before long, they were walking out the door again, on their way to celebrate the occasion in a more alcohol rich fashion.

The bar was rowdy and packed with graduates, all letting loose without reservation, and Charles, for all his manners and class, wasn't any different. With Ana and Raven getting another round of drinks at the bar, they only shot the young man amused glances every now and then as he was attempting to chug down a ridiculously large pitcher of beer while some of his friends egged him on. If they noticed the dark-haired woman approach him purposefully, they unconsciously dismissed it as a result of their brother's apparent, inexplicable pull to women and simply returned to their own drinks.

"Which one?" Raven inquired, voice hushed even though nobody would be able to overhear them over the loud ruckus in the establishment. Leaning over the bar somewhat, careful to avoid knocking over their glasses, Ana pointed to a group of guys at a table in a corner of the pub.

"The tall one, right next to the one with the unibrow over there."

"The blonde one?"

"No, the one with the green jumper and shit-eating grin."

Ana watched as the guy in question once more ogled her sister and Raven actually took notice this time, immediately turning away from the cute, young man that was openly flirting with her. Raven's faced flushed a bright red, eyes darting over to her sister nervously. "Oh shit, he saw me looking."

Rolling her eyes, Ana took another long gulp of her drink. "That's kind of the point of eye-fucking someone across the room. No fun if the other's not participating, right?

"Ana!" her sister exclaimed, slightly scandalized at the crude language but unable to stop a grin from forming all the same. "He is, though, isn't he?"

Nodding seriously, the younger of the two, if by age only since Raven didn't look a day older than her sister thanks to her mutation, Ana replied, "Oh yes. In his head, you've already reached second base and are quickly approaching third." Acting as if she shared Charles' telepathic abilities, she once more looked over at the guy for a couple of seconds before raising her brows in mock appreciation. "Quite the cunnilingus expert, that one."

Raven gave a surprised bark of laughter at the other girl's antics, trying to surreptitiously turn to catch another glimpse of the young man when Charles suddenly appeared behind them. Both girls immediately took notice of his grave expression, clouded as it was by his obviously inebriated state. "We need to go. _Now._"

Surprised, they were ready to question their brother about his sudden mood swing when they heard his voice inside of their heads, mentally pleading with them to just listen to him for once without asking questions first. _'I'll pay for the drinks, please go bring the car round.'_

Prone as Raven was to following Charles' commands, she immediately picked up their coats and headed for the door while Ana eyed the dark-haired woman standing behind her brother with suspicion. She was, without a doubt, responsible for cutting short their night of celebration, but the young girl couldn't phantom what she could've said to get this kind of reaction out of Charles.

Opening her mouth to object and demand an explanation, Ana was silenced by a quick look from Charles. She knew that look, and it never foretold anything pleasant. Opting to actually take heed of her brother's words for a change, she settled for simply throwing the unknown woman a dark look before trailing after Raven.

As soon as Charles climbed into the car and told Raven to drive straight home to pack their bags, they unleashed a whirlwind of questions on him, completely flabbergasted with his behaviour.

Whatever they had speculated prior to his arrival didn't even come close to what he proceeded to explain to them.

The woman was a CIA agent and wanted to fly him out to their headquarters in the States to consult on a case that involved a terrorist organisation which included a number of possibly mutated individuals? Could he repeat that, because they must not have heard him correctly? Or the woman had drugged him and was playing a prank on him that, honestly, was far from funny.

"While I may've had a few drinks-" Ana snorted, "I am still of sound enough mind that I can assure you that this is no joking matter."

"You don't need to tell us! Raven might've finally gotten laid tonight if you-"

"And," he continued on firmly, intently ignoring both the interruption and the reference to his sister's sex life. "Agent McTaggert will have a plane ready to leave for Virginia within the hour. We are to pack some clothes and essentials before meeting up with her at the airport."

Both girls exchanged looks in the rear-view mirror, realization finally dawning on them that this might actually not be some elaborate prank. "Well... damn," Raven muttered, stepping on the gas a bit harder now that the seriousness of what was happening sunk in.

"Terrorists as in real life terrorists?" The other blonde asked uncertainly, voice still slightly sceptical. "Like assassinations and bombings and evil masterminds plotting all of our deaths terrorists?"

Charles simply turned his gaze out of the window instead of responding, which was all the answer she needed.

"Well... damn."

* * *

**A/N:** While this might be quite a fanfiction cliché, one of the main characters suddenly having a sister, it serves the purposes of this story perfectly. I'm aiming to not go the MarySue route, of course, and as she's going to be one of the youngster's in the story, she'll have enough behavioural issues as the rest at that age. She will, for all intents and purposes, be a properly irrational teen at time and an annoying younger sister ;).

I just adore how Charles and Erik are portrayed in First Class, but most fics are slash (for obvious reasons, because hot damn…!) and I was just in desperate need of some Erik/OC hotness. Unfortunately, there are only a few of those drifting around , so I decided to start writing one myself. I've already written quite a few chapters, but was hesitant about publishing them online till now. Here we are, though! Hehe. The first chapter can feels quite rushed, I apologize, but the pace will even out as the story progresses.

You can find a link to the banner/fanart for this story in my bio.

Let me know what you think! Constructive criticism is more than welcome, of course!


	2. Chapter 2

**THE EVOLUTION THEORY**

_Quick author's note: Thank you for the lovely reviews and favs/follows. Here is another modest chapter, still setting the stage for the upcoming Erik & XavierFamily interaction but it shows some more of the siblings' bond as well as Ana's character. Hope you guys enjoy it!_

**CHAPTER TWO**

"Excuse me!?"

Even Raven was shaking her head in disbelief at Charles, while Ana sputtered in outrage. "I don't understand. You want us to hop on a plane and leave her behind?"

Charles was busy rummaging through his sock drawer, shoving quite a few pairs into his suitcase before moving on to his underwear. "Not exactly. She will simply go home to Westchester as planned. Now, please, Raven, I urge you to hurry up seeing as we don't have much time."

The tall blonde sighed heavily, but eventually did as told, leaving his bedroom to venture into hers.

"But - what- why..." Ana was still watching her brother with wide eyes. "You can't be serious, Charlie! If it's so dangerous, then why is Raven coming along but not me?"

While the girls spent a lot of time in recent years in one of the family's properties in Oxford, opting to stick close to their brother who had moved there for his study, they could still mostly be found in their childhood home in Westchester County, New York. They had already booked flights to return there a couple days after graduation, but now it seemed that her brother expected her to fly out by her lonesome.

"Because they won't be able to deny the existence of mutants when they see Raven's remarkable abilities, and I fear that mine will simply be discarded as tricks instead of being taken seriously." Turning from tossing a pair of trousers into the case, he finally gave his sister his full attention. "I have enough reservations as it is with putting Raven in such a situation; I'd rather you not be involved as well, Ana."

While she could certainly understand that shapeshifting would force even the most closed-minded individual to open their mind to a new realm of possibilities, she could still not get over the fact that she would be forced to return home while her siblings were possibly put into harm's way.

Her brother was a fairly reasonable person, even she had to concede that regardless of how madly stupid she often found him to be during one of their many arguments. But asking her to sit on the side-lines while some unknown threat was looming over all of their heads, it was just not an option for her. And damn it, she had to make him realize it!

"I can help, Charlie, you know I can," she urged him, and something in her tone had him stopping his packing momentarily, sinking down onto the edge of the bed with a heavy sigh. She wasted no time in plopping down next to him, waving her hands around frantically as she tried to make her point. "You want me to just sit on my hands at home, waiting for you two to help avert some international crisis and then come back bearing gifts from your foray into American espionage?"

Charles took a moment to study his twenty year old sister's face, taking in her bright blue eyes, so much like his own. She and Raven looked so much alike, it was obvious that the originally blue skinned girl he'd happened upon in their kitchen so many years ago had chosen an appearance that resembled Ana closely so that nobody would be able to doubt the familial connection. Ana had long, blonde hair that was only a tad lighter than that of her adopted sister, with a heart shaped face, somewhat pointy chin, and big, big eyes that were now looking up at him beseechingly.

He nearly caved. He never could deny her anything when she gave him those puppy dog eyes, bottom lip even jutting out slightly to complete the look with an adorable pout. His resolute facade started to crumble under her sisterly manipulations before he could catch himself, and it apparently showed if the gleam in her eyes was any indication.

Shaking his head suddenly, he grabbed her right hand in his and turned it over, tapping her palm with his index finger. "I need you to go home and make sure that you keep this safe."

Realizing what he was getting at, Ana rolled her eyes with a frustrated groan, flexing her fingers in his grip. "Oh god, seriously, Charlie? I'm not five anymore, you do get that right?" Tilting her head down to indicate the ample cleavage her top was showing, she continued, "I actually know biology now, and gotten rather acquainted with quite a few-"

"Oh, Ana, must you always spoil the moment so?" he dropped his head in aggravation, forehead coming to rest on her shoulder because of their close proximity. While he might have sobered up from the heavy drinking earlier, the entire situation had taken quite a toll on him and left him suddenly exhausted. "My baby sister and her vulgarity. I really insist you stop hanging out with those friends of yours, they are a bad influence."

Ana just scoffed, poking his head with her chin, a small smile on her face. Despite their many disagreements, she did love her brother dearly and enjoyed these moments of physical comfort. Even his sappiness was something she kind of liked; even if she was loathe to admit it. "Please," she muttered. "Give me more credit than that. _I_ am the bad influence, if there was any."

Despite his exhaustion, he couldn't help but chuckle slightly, pulling back to look into her eyes once more. "It's still true, though," he tapped her palm once more, not having let go earlier. "You hold my heart in your hands, and I need you to keep it safe while I go deal with this."

It was something he had told her ever since she was old enough to understand her big brother, always looking to him for love and comfort and protection in the wake of emotionally neglectful parents, and afterwards the complete absence of them. He would tell her that he would always be there for her, and she had to be brave too, because in return, she would have to safeguard his heart.

The tiny version of herself would then proudly proclaim that she'd never let anyone hurt her big brother Charlie, not even the monsters lurking under her bed or the meanies at school.

The first time her abilities had made themselves known, he never could've expected just how close to the truth the sentiment actually was.

Blinking rapidly to clear the sudden rush of moisture from her eyes, Ana awkwardly ducked her head and remained silent as Charles stood up and finished putting the last of his stuff in the suitcase.

Bastard, turning the tables on her by countering her puppy look with such heavy-duty, emotional blackmail.

"Okay, I'm ready," Raven's voice suddenly sounded from the doorway. The other blonde was cautiously glancing between the two, still wary of their earlier argument and sensing the tense atmosphere in the room, travel bag at her feet.

"Good," Charles declared, heaving the large bag over his shoulder and taking his own suitcase in his other hand. "We'll take my car to the airport, so Ana can use yours in our absence."

This titbit perked Ana up somewhat. Her own vespa was still at the auto shop, after a minor accident the previous week. Charles disagreed with her on this, thinking her little run-in with a neighbour's car was not a minor accident but worthy of many scoldings and rants, unfortunately. He really needed to lighten up sometimes. Okay, most of the time.

Raven looked ready to protest, obviously apprehensive about putting her beloved Beetle in her little sister's hands, but then thought better of it and phished the car keys out of her coat pocket and tossing them at Ana. Probably the guilt of leaving her to her own devices that kept her quiet, as it should, Ana reasoned.

Following them to the driveway, Ana listened to Charles prattle on about all of the things she would have to ensure before catching a flight home, but she hardly paid him any attention, more concerned with what her siblings were getting themselves into. It's not every day that mutants planned to lay bare their abilities to a government organization.

Ana might be careless at times, too impulsive at some, and hot-headed at others, but even she fully understood the gravity of what was going to happen as soon as they touched down in the States. Revealing to the government, to the world, the existence of people with mutations, strange and sometimes dangerous abilities, it was...

"You better be careful with my baby," Raven warned her, snapping her out of her musings. Although she might age slower than the rest of them and one wouldn't be able to tell from looking at them both, the other blonde was still her big sister.

With a wicked grin, Ana tossed the car keys she held into the air before catching them again with a flourish. "It only took a terrorist threat to get me behind the wheels of your car."

"Damn straight, and it'll take another before you get that chance again after I get back."

They hugged quickly before Charles wrapped Ana up in his arms, having already put the bag and suitcase in the trunk of his car. "Don't do anything I wouldn't do, Anabelle Rosemary Xavier."

Lifting her left hand from his waist, she reached up and tugged at a lock of his hair. He really needed a haircut, he was starting to resemble those free love hippie people she'd seen on the news. "I'll try to be a total bore and not have any fun while you're away."

Chuckling, he pulled back. "Good girl. See you in a few days, love."

Waving her siblings goodbye until the taillights disappeared from sight, Ana chewed her bottom lip, worry pulling her brows into a dark frown. She had a feeling it would take longer than a few days.

Tick, tock, tick, tock.

Ana may have been joking when she told her brother that she'd try not to have any fun while they were away, but had ended up keeping that promise tenfold. Not only was she worried sick about her siblings, gallivanting somewhere in the States while painting huge targets on their backs for the government and terrorist organizations alike but Ana had no way of contacting them.

She had no idea where they would be located, and the calls she'd made to the CIA headquarters a day after their supposed arrival there had proven fruitless. They kept giving her the brush off, claiming not to be familiar with an agent McTaggert or any mister or miss Xavier. Unfamiliar, my ass!

Not knowing where they were and how they were faring was simply driving her up the mansion's walls, and she'd eventually just given up and resigned to waiting by the phone for them to finally remember to call their baby sister.

Tick, tock, tick, tock.

Laying stretched out on the ground next to brother's desk in his study, Ana glared viciously at the grandfather clock in the far corner of the room.

Two days after their departure, she'd gotten on a flight to Westchester and upon arriving home, immediately took up permanent residence in her brother's study in the mansion. There was no other option that to wait until her siblings finally contacted her and she was loathe to miss that call when it finally came.

She'd taken to lazing about on the leather armchair the first day and a half, but there were only so many positions she could twist herself in on the decidedly small piece of furniture (even for her) before her back began aching.

After that, she had switched to pacing, but eventually her inherent laziness took over again, not to mention sleep deprivation, before she crashed down on the thick rug next to the imperial, mahogany desk. Wearing only a pair of sweatpants and one of her brother's Oxford shirts, which were way too big for her small frame, she looked a mess, but since she'd dismissed the staff, nobody was around to witness the pathetic display.

And that's how she found herself in a stare off with the grandfather clock, which kept taunting her with its never-ending ticking and tocking. How could Charles stand it? He spent so many hours in this study when at their Salem home. She would've smashed the offending object to pieces before the week's end.

She'd never been fond of this room anyway. It reminded her too much of their father, who always holed himself up here on the rare occasions he spent at home, and afterwards of trying to entice her studious brother out of the house to come and play with his little sister. Even back then, she had enough tricks up her sleeve that she succeeded more often than not, dragging him out victoriously to play hide and seek, or have a tea party with her and Raven.

"Aaaaaaarggg, shut the fuck up, you piece of old rubbish!"

Shooting up to her feet, Ana marched over to the large clock with purposeful strides, not quite knowing what she was going to do once she reached it, but determined to do _something_ all the same. Desperate times called for desperate measures.

Ring, riiiing.

Her heart nearly skipped a beat as suddenly heard the phone come to life, and with a swiftness that surprised even her, she lunged towards the desk and scrambled to pick up the receiver. "Charles?"

"Hello, Ana," his smooth tone carried over the line and she could feel the tension in her tired body ebbing out of her at the familiar voice. She didn't give him chance to continue, though. Her anger at not hearing from them for days quickly overpowered her relief.

"You bloody bastard! How dare you fly off into the sunset on some covert mission with your holier than thou attitude and not even have the decency to call me to tell me you are alright!?"

She could almost see him rubbing the back of his neck, chastised, but she was nowhere near done with him. "Four days, Charlie. Four unbearably long days of me wondering if the two of you are okay or imprisoned or being experimented on! You couldn't take two fucking seconds to make one phone call? I would've settled for a _'the weather's lovely in Virginia'_ or _'our plane didn't crash'_ or even _'oh, hey, by the way, they didn't turn us into _dead_ fucking mutants'_!"

She lowered her voice as she did an awful impersonation of him, and she practically heard him smile through the receiver. "Are you laughing at me? I'm glad my suffering is so amusing to you, because you know I aim to please."

"No, no, of course not, I'm truly sorry for not contacting you earlier. It's just that everything has been quite a mess ever since we arrived and this is the first chance that I actually got the time and means to make a phone call," he apologized.

Ana just sniffed loudly, still miffed, but feeling a lot better now that she'd had the chance to vent her anger. "Okay," she conceded, sounding like it was anything but okay. "But I'm still mad at you."

"I know." The smile could now be heard in his voice as well. "Did you get to Westerchester in one piece?"

She rolled her eyes at her brother's concern. "I _am_ twenty, Charlie. I can handle a flight over the pond by myself."

"Yes, but I was more worried for the flight staff, honestly. I know how you get in confined spaces."

He was right, though, her minor case of claustrophobia did manage to bring out the worst in her, and she had taken some of her frustration out on the attendants and other passengers without Charles and Raven to reel her in. It was not something she wanted to particularly discuss.

Curiosity finally getting the better of her, she asked him what had happened in the last couple of days, to which he responded by letting out a long whistle. "Let's just say that it's been quite an eventful trip."

Ana made a face. "What? That's it? You're not even going to provide me with juicy details to ease my aforementioned torment? C'mon, I'm expecting some good stuff for forgetting about your poor, darling sister."

"I'm sorry, Ana," and he sounded like he truly meant it. "It's all classified and I'm calling from inside on of their facilities as we speak. For an intelligence agency, they have quite a strict don't ask, don't tell policy."

"Well, at least tell me if you're doing any cool secret agent stuff or maybe saved the president or whatever," she nearly whined like a petulant younger sister. Which she was, so she could get away with that kind of behaviour.

Charles laughed at her antics. "Unfortunately not. I have not seen or met the president, nor saved his life," his chuckle rumbled over the line, followed by a pause that let her know he was carefully considering his next words. "I _will_ tell you that I tricked the CIA, saw a cruise ship get ripped to shreds, saved a man from drowning, and am currently residing in a top secret facility with fellow mutants. Is that enough to sate your thirst for drama and action, madam?"

Eyes widening in surprise, Ana absorbed the information with only a mediocre of disbelief. Her brother was not one for fantastical stories, unless you counted his pick-up lines. "Cross your heart?"

"And hope to die."

"Holy crap."

"Language, Anabelle," he admonished. "Look, I'm sorry I'm going to have to cut this short, but I don't have much time to talk."

"No, of course not, you have a zombie apocalypse to prevent in forty-five minutes, and make it in time for a private dinner with Jackie-O at eight."

"Precisely."

Both grinned and said their goodbyes, Ana adding in a warning of what she would do to his precious book collection if he failed to call her every other day. They agreed upon a time that was suitable considering the time difference before hanging up, and Ana placed the received back onto its hook before letting herself drop back unto the rug like a sack of potatoes.

Staring up at the high ceiling, she gave a long, wistful sigh. "Next time the world gets threatened, I am _so_ coming along for the ride."

Days passed into a week, and aside from the occasional phone call from Charles or Raven, Ana spent most of her time wasting away in the mansion or its grounds, waiting for them to finally return.

Although her brother could drive her crazy with his incessant lecturing and hovering, and her sister could be annoying beyond reason, she missed them terribly. She couldn't remember the last time they'd spent so much time apart from both of them and was feeling the loss severely.

After nearly two weeks had passed, she finally got the call she'd been waiting for. Charles had told her that they were coming home at last. He was quite reluctant about giving out more information, despite her pestering, but she eventually hung up with the sense that this whole ordeal was still far from over.

Frowning at the vagueness of it all, Ana mentally made a list of what she'd need to get in order before their arrival, like stocking the fridge and cleaning up the terrible mess she'd made in their absence.

It looked like she'd finally be getting some answers, though.

* * *

**A/N:** I know that I tend to wander into the frivolous at times, and really have to reign myself in to keep scenes and/or characters from becoming too superficial or OC. It's why writing an original character feels safer for me, because there are no expectations from the readers, except for the figure to be believable and relatable.

This is a really quick update, mostly because it's another short chapter, but if there are enough reviews/interest for the story, I'll keep writing and updating regularly ;).

Just fyi, I'm not using a beta, even though English is not my native language. Amsterdam, born and bred. So my apologies for any discrepancies.

Please review and let me know what you think/like/dislike!


	3. Chapter 3

**THE EVOLUTION THEORY**

_Quick author's note: Again, thanks for all of the amazing support! This chapter contains the first meeting between Ana and the future X-team. I hope you guys enjoy it._

**CHAPTER THREE**

By the time Ana finally managed to drag herself out of bed, it was already nearing noon. She normally didn't sleep in this late, except after a particularly rowdy night, but the stark relief of finally not having to worry about her siblings anymore because they would be home soon provided her with the first peaceful night's sleep in a long while.

Even as she cracked her eyes open, squinting around the room in sleepy disorientation, her first thought was of their imminent arrival. It was enough to have her awake within seconds, sliding out of her bed clumsily to drag herself over to the adjoining bathroom.

She nearly stumbled over a pile of dirty laundry, sweats and baggy shirts scattered throughout the room. She grimaced at the mess, admitting that she hadn't really bothered with dressing properly the last two weeks. Or cleaning. Or spending any time on her personal hygiene. Yuck.

First things first, Ana popped into the shower and lathered up her hair with shampoo twice, just to be sure. Raven would never let her live it down if she saw a greasy, unkempt mop, proclaiming that her little sister would turn into a horrible, unattractive mess if she wasn't there to provide sisterly guidance. And she'd be right, dammit. Ana may complain about Raven's constant fussing, rather loudly and sometimes at the top of her lungs, but she'd be lost without her.

It took about forty minutes before she finally deemed herself presentable, hair hanging in shiny waves down her shoulders and only a touch of mascara on her lashes, but more than a touch of eyeliner. It was all the rage, no matter if Charles abhorred the thick streak of black on her upper lids. He could take it up with the fashion magazines.

A loose fitting, white vest top and her favourite denim shorts were completed by her chunky combat boots. She loved the black stompers and wore them nearly every day, which was evident by their state.

Looking herself over in the full length mirror, unconsciously kicking some dirty socks out of the way, she took in her appearance with glee. Oh, her brother would hate it, as he did most of her outfits. And because it was a sister's life mission to earn a brother's disapproval, she bounded out of the bedroom and down the stairs with more cheer than she'd felt in a while.

Humming some nonsensical tune under her breath, completely off key but catchy nonetheless, she sauntered down the stairs and had almost passed through the foyer towards the kitchen when something from the corner of her eye caught her attention. With a frown, she retraced a couple of steps and looked out into the sitting room.

Standing in front of one of the windows overlooking the front courtyard was a man whom she could immediately rule out as one of the staff members.

Granted, she could only see his back as he stood staring out onto the grounds, but his outline looked decidedly unfamiliar. Because, dear god, she would have remembered that ass.

Taking a moment to study him, she let her eyes trail from his leather shoes up long, lean legs to a decidedly droolworthy derriere that was only partly obscured by a nicely fitted, brown leather jacket, topped off with a head of partly slicked back brunette hair. Oh my.

Down girl! What is wrong with you? There is an intruder in your house and your first instinct is to pinch his tush? Maybe your family is right and there is something wrong with you!

Tearing her eyes away from the figure, Ana did a quick sweep of the room, gaze finally landing on the fire poker set by the fireplace to her right. It was within easy reach and as slowly as she could, she leaned over awkwardly to grab hold of the closest poker. He was apparently in deep thought, because he didn't hear the slight clink the metal made as she carefully unhooked it from the holder.

Mentally willing her brother to walk through the front door, like NOW, she drew herself up to her full height, an impressive five foot five and brandished the object in front of her like a weapon. Hot or not, he would not be walking away with any of her valuables!

Something must've finally alerted him of her presence, though, because as quick as lightning, his hand shot up and all of the sudden, she was not holding the poker anymore. In some inexplicable way, she suddenly found herself pressed up against the wall directly behind her with said poker pressed to her throat, cutting off her air supply.

The stinging pain at the back of her head, which had been knocked rather viciously into the wall, had stars dancing in front of her eyes and without thought her hands flew up to grasp the poker, trying to relieve the pressure on her throat.

Gasping, her gaze flew in confusion to where the man had been standing to find him still at that exact spot, but now he'd angled himself towards the young woman. The look on his face matched hers perfectly. Well, except for the blue tinge from the lack of oxygen, she supposed, but he actually appeared surprised.

As he fully turned towards her, his hand fell back to his side and along with it, the poker dropped to the floor with an unpleasant clang. The suddenness of it took Ana by surprise again for she was pushing against it with all of her strength, and she ungraciously fell forwards onto her knees as she sucked in a much needed breath.

"Who are you?"

Taking a moment to slide her hand over her sore throat and get her breathing under control, Ana mentally screeched at him. "I think," she began, stopping to swallow with difficulty before rasping on. "That the better question is: who the _fuck_ are _you_?"

Lifting her head to glower at him dangerously, she practically growled, "And what the hell are you doing in_ my_ house?"

His eyes widened momentarily, seemingly shocked again, and she began to suspect that she was dealing with a mental patient who snuck into people's houses and then accosted them with pokers. Granted, she was the one who'd chosen it as a weapon and she had no idea how he'd even assaulted her from the other side of the room, but she blamed it on the lack of oxygen and concluded that he must be a lunatic, at the very least.

Not really liking how vulnerable she was, kneeling on all fours, the girl pushed herself to her feet, still clutching her throat and glaring daggers at the man. Taking a moment to study him, she grudgingly had to admit that he was quite handsome, no, gorgeous even. _For a crazy person_. And as she took him in, she could see him doing the same with her, eyes narrowed in suspicion.

He didn't seem to find anything particularly intimidating about her, it seemed, because he relaxed his stance somewhat, casting a furtive glance past her into the foyer. "I was under the impression that this is Charles Xavier's estate."

Oh, hell no.

"You know my brother?" she asked cynically, giving him quite a nasty look to let him know just what she thought of her brother's acquaintance.

And all of the sudden, something seemed to fall into place for him as he did another quick sweep over her form. A slight frown knitted his brows while one corner of his mouth turned upwards into the semblance of a smile. "Charles didn't tell me that he had another sister."

"And I didn't know he was looking for new friends in mental hospitals, of all places, but here you are," she finished with a wave of her hand in his general direction, not quite believing he had the nerve to actually seem amused while she'd been gasping for air mere seconds ago. She grimaced as she swallowed once more, before pointedly motioning towards the front door with a jerk of her head. "Why are you still here? Why are you not leaving?"

Being met with only a quirk of his brow, Ana growled impatiently. "Not the brightest bulb, are you? Let me help you, this is the part where I throw you out of my goddamned house and you thank me for not calling the cops on your abusive ass."

This actually drew a chuckle out of him as he took a couple of steps in her direction and she had to steel herself to stand her ground. "My, my, what crude language." Stopping a couple of feet in front of her, he tilted his head to the side, vivid, grey eyes studying her with an intensity that unnerved her slightly. "Are you quite sure you're Charles' sister?"

The sole focus of his attention on her felt heavy and she momentarily forgot her reply as she peered right back at him, gaze briefly flicking down to his pursed lips. He really was eerily beautiful for all of the arrogance he practically radiated. The tall way he held himself, back straight and head at an angle as he waited for her answer. Or not, the question could've been entirely rhetorical and he was simply waiting for her to react to his teasing.

Well, she wasn't one to disappoint. Pulling herself together, she'd already opened her mouth to deliver him a verbal smack down when said brother chose that exact moment to walk into the sitting room. Without noticing the other man, he immediately swept her up into his arms and lifted her off the ground in a bone crushing hug. "Ana, darling! Did you miss me?"

The way Charles twirled her had her head spinning all over again, not quite recovered from being knocked into a wall prior. It was a relief when he set her down again and her hand immediately flew to her head, willing the slight nausea to subside. In that moment, Charles finally took notice of the other man and smiled a bit awkwardly over Ana's head. "I see you two have met."

The other man simply grinned, eyes gleaming. "We have." Covering the distance between them, he clapped her brother on the back, obviously enjoying his discomfort. "Quite a surprise since you never mentioned having another sister tucked away somewhere."

"Well, yes, I didn't think it was relevant at the time, so it must've slipped my mind."

Now glaring daggers at both men from the corner of her eyes, Ana grumbled, "Feeling the love, Charlie, thanks."

As Charles gave her a sheepish grin, he got a good look at her and must've noticed the red mark on her throat, for he was instantly all over her. "My god, what happened?"

"Your friend here, that's what bloody well happened," she snapped, trying to bat his hands away as he angled her head up to get a better look. Instantly, he turned an incredulous eye to the other man.

"Seriously, Erik? I save your life and you repay me by accosting my sister?"

"Well, to be fair, I didn't know who she was and she _was_ brandishing a poker at me."

Shaking his head disapprovingly, Charles took Ana by the shoulders and started to steer her out of the room and towards the stairs. Having heard her brother's previous words, she gave him an accusing look. "This is the guy you saved? Him? Unbelievable…" Shaking her head, she ground out, "Should've let the bastard drown, if you ask me."

"Ana, that is beyond uncalled for and rude," Charles hissed, hoping his new friend hadn't overheard.

"No, rude is what I'm going to do to his face when I see him again."

The bark of laughter behind them told him that Erik had indeed heard the exchange. With a sigh, he escorted the still complaining girl up the stairs and towards his bedroom, knowing that it was time to fully explain the situation to his little sister.

* * *

"Okay, so let me get this straight..."

Ana chanced a look at her brother who was sitting in the upholstered chair next to the bed she was lounging on, his elbows resting on his knees with fingers steepled together under his chin. It was her brother's signature pose when he was being serious and she took a deep breath at the sight before continuing.

"A group of mutants want to start a nuclear war so that they can give world domination a try, and in an effort to stop them, you worked together with the CIA to recruit a handful of mutants with the use of a brain helmet thingy-"

"Cerebro," he interjected, but she continued on as if he'd never spoken.

"You were then all attacked at the super-secret, covert CIA research facility, so you brought them here to train them for an upcoming battle of epic proportions. To our house, which is registered on our family name."

She paused, awaiting confirmation. A nod.

"And that jackass downstairs-"

"Erik."

"Has a personal vendetta against the leader of the evil mutants and is just along for the ride so that he can get his bloody vengeance."

"Well, I wouldn't phrase it quite like that-"

Again, she ignored his words, rubbing her sore throat gingerly. "I knew I was right about him being a murderous psycho…."

With a heavy sigh, Charles rolled his eyes at his sister and drew her attention back to him. "Ana, I know this is all a lot to take in. Believe me, I can barely wrap my own mind around what has transpired, but… all of our futures depend on it. Literally."

It was obvious that he was waiting for her to start off on a tangent of how idiotic this whole plan was, as she was fond of doing, but she actually understood his actions perfectly. Of course, it wasn't smart to bring them there, but he didn't have a lot of options given the circumstances. At least they had enough room and funds to provide shelter to the unlikely group of mutants. And it meant that her siblings were out from under the CIA's watchful eyes as well, which she was infinitely glad for.

While her brother had a very trusting nature, she didn't always share his optimism in people in general.

Looking up to see that Charles was still anxiously waiting for a reaction from her, she gave him a reassuring smile. "I have to say, Charlie," she began, getting up off the bed to perch on the arm of his chair. "I'm quite proud of you."

Despite his relief at her acceptance, he appeared somewhat confused at her words, gazing up at her questioningly as he squeezed her knee. "How is that?"

"Well," she drawled, patting the hand on her knee absentmindedly. "Even in a situation like this, only a couple of weeks after graduating, you managed to wrangle yourself some students in a makeshift boarding school, Professor Xavier."

As soon as he realized the truth of her statement, a small grin crept onto his lips. "I did, didn't I?"

"Yes, you most certainly did."

He was obviously relishing in the knowledge, gazing unseeingly out of the bedroom window for a couple of moments before he squeezed her knee once more to grab her attention. "There is a matter we have to discuss prior to starting this whole ordeal, though."

The sudden seriousness in his tone implied that she probably wouldn't like what he was about to say, but she kept quiet, waiting for him to continue.

"I didn't actually forget to tell anyone about you," the man grimaced, ducking his head slightly to look up at her hesitantly. "It was entirely deliberate."

This had her brows rising in bewilderment and getting to her feet to meet his gaze head on. "I know I can be a pain in the ass sometimes, but surely you're not _that_ ashamed of me."

"No, no, not at all," he quickly backtracked, hands flying up to appease her. "I just didn't want anybody to question your mutant status, that's all."

Really, his explanation did little to clear things up. "Oh, is that all?" Ana drawled sarcastically, arms crossing over her chest and it drew his attention to her outfit, apparently, for he frowned all of the sudden, looking down at her.

"What are you wearing?"

How very predictable, she thought, rolling her eyes. "They're called clothes, Charlie. I'm sure you've got a closet full of them yourself."

Her attitude was clearly unappreciated for he shot her an exasperated glare. "Thank you for stating the obvious, Ana. What I meant was: why are you running around the house in…," he trailed off at that, gesturing at her shorts and top while thinking of the right words. "In your sleepwear?"

This had her bark out a laugh. "Really? That's rich! I've seen you bring home girls that were wearing less than me." She knew she had him with that one because he only gritted his teeth, unable to deny her claim.

"Yes," he ground out eventually. "But they were not my sister."

"Oh, come off it. It's a warm day and I'm entirely decent. Now, are you going to explain why you felt the need to keep quiet about me if it wasn't for the shame of my charming personality?"

It was enough to get his attention back to the matter at hand and he rose to his feet to pace across the room. "I've already discussed this with Raven, and even agent McTaggert promised to keep quiet about this, but we've decided that it would be best if nobody was aware of your mutation."

"Oh, you have, have you?" she scowled, not liking it when her siblings tried to make decisions for her. "And why should I? Because as I see it, this is the first time ever that we don't actually have to hide our abilities. We're all weirdo's here."

He appeared to have expected her reluctance because he was ready with the answer. "I'm only asking you to keep quiet about them until we're out of this mess. We don't know what's awaiting us, Ana. It could get gruesome. One has already lost his life already."

Stepping towards him, she held her arms out to her sides in disbelief. "Exactly! I might've been able to prevent that. I can help!"

Charles just shook his head vehemently. "No way. We have no idea what the extent of your ability is and I am not risking your life to find out."

At his determined tone, the girl sighed, losing some of her fire. He always got like this when it came to her mutation. She loved him for his caring, but he was just so overprotective. "Charlie," he began, quieter this time, but he cut her off.

"A cut or scrape during practice is one thing, but if someone gets mortally wounded during a battle, I don't want them looking to you to heal it when it might get you killed in their stead."

She saw the worry in his as he imagined such scenarios and her heart when out for her brother. "What if I could do it, though? Heal them and heal myself as well? Are you really asking me to watch on the side line as others die, knowing I might've been able to save them?"

Closing the distance between them, Charles took her hands in his, keeping her gaze on his. "I am not asking you, Ana. I'm _telling_ you."

Despite his words, his eyes were pleading her desperately to accept to consent and she sighed once more. She couldn't begrudge him his fear for she understood him perfectly. Keeping silent, her mind flashed back to when she was a mere eight years old and stood gazing down at her brother's unmoving body in horror.

He had just gotten a new horse for this fifteenth birthday and decided to ride it that very afternoon, but the animal had gotten spooked by something or other and thrown the boy off. She could still remember perfectly how he'd looked like a doll being thrown to the ground, head hitting a rock with a sickening thud on impact.

Only their mother had been present at the time and she'd been immediately spurred into action, throwing herself to the ground and crying for the boy to not lose consciousness. His sisters had watched, sobbing, as the woman had cradled the boy in her arms, blood gushing out of the wound on the back of his head. Their mother knew what his dilated pupils and semi-conscious state meant, weeping as she yelled for Raven to go inside to fetch her husband.

The scared girl had all but stumbled towards the house in her haste, leaving a terrified Ana standing over the pair. Small body trembling, she'd lowered herself onto bony knees beside them, clutching her brother's hand tightly in her own.

That was the first time her ability had showed itself.

The young girl had gasped in pain suddenly, a pressure in her head making stars explode in front of her eyes. Despite slumping the boy's chest with an agonized wail, she found it impossible to release his hands to grasp at her head. Her vision swam and she could feel something warm dripping down the back of her neck, but it barely registered over the excruciating pain inside of her skull.

She hadn't been aware of passing out before her eyes opened next, only to be met with a brightly lit, white hospital room. The doctors had killed it a miracle. A spit of a girl recovering from such extensive head trauma which would've been the death of a fully grown man within minutes.

Scared and confused and still in pain, Ana could only stare wide-eyed at the figure of Charles by her bedside, though. He had tears in his eyes and looked relieved and guilty all at once, but he was alive and unharmed and that was all that mattered.

Blinking back to the present, she noticed the faraway look in Charles' eyes and knew he had taken a trip down memory lane as well. He wore the same expression of guilt as she'd seen all those years ago and it made her heart ache all over again. "Charlie," she spoke softly, waiting for his eyes to focus on her before smiling reassuringly. "It wasn't your fault."

"You were in the hospital for two weeks. I spent days waiting for you to wake up and," he halted, seemingly choking on the emotion welling up in his chest before swallowing it down again. "You almost died."

Ana squeezed his hands. "But I didn't."

"But you almost did," he said forcefully. "You can only heal injuries you absorb from others, Ana. And we don't know what your body's limit is. What kind of wound even you can't recover from. Let alone if something were to happen to you in the midst of a fight."

Although she was fully aware of how defenceless she was compared to the others, her ability offering her absolutely no protection or advantage whatsoever if push came to shove, it still hurt to have it said out loud.

She'd dropped his hands and turned away, opting to look out of the window instead, when she heard his voice quietly behind her. "If not for yourself, please do it for me, Ana."

And she knew she wouldn't be able to deny him. With a nod, she relented and Charles let out the breath he'd been holding in relief. Throwing his arms around her in a hug, he thanked her, telling her she'd made the right choice. "So," she trailed off, shrugging out of his embrace awkwardly. "I'm going to be a totally normal human for the time being?"

At this, Charles couldn't help but grin slightly. "Well, as _normal_ as you can be," he teased, earning him a slap on the shoulder from his sister.

"Jackass."

* * *

After trying, to no avail, to convince his sister to change her outfit into something more appropriate, Charles set out with some important task or whatnot, leaving her to digest the onslaught of information.

Ana had spent enough time by her lonesome the previous weeks, so after examining the slowly darkening mark on her throat critically in the mirror, she ventured out of her room once more. This time she knew to expect strangers loitering around the property, so she would refrain from brandishing makeshift weapons at unfamiliar faces.

After wondering around for a couple of minutes, she thankfully came across her sister first. The other girl was in the process of telling three boys where they would be able to find the home gym, pointing down various corridors as she gave them a tour, when her eyes landed on Ana.

A smile threatened to split her face in two and the two girls threw themselves into an embrace. "Where the hell were you? I came looking for you the second we arrived, but couldn't find you anywhere!"

The youngest frowned at that. "Maybe I was in the bathroom or something, you should've called out." Grimacing slightly, her hand flew up to her throat. "It would've saved me from an eventful morning."

Glancing down, Raven's eyes widened at the bruises forming. "Oh my god, what happened?"

Ana was about to blurt out the story of her encounter with the man in the sitting room when she noticed the boys behind Raven shifting awkwardly on their feet, obviously uncomfortable with being ignored. "Ehh, hey," she greeted them, looking to her sister to make the introductions.

Raven blushed faintly at remembering the others still being present and pointed from one to the other. "Sorry about that. Hank, Alex, Sean, this is my sister Ana. Ana, these are-"

"Yeah," Ana interrupted with a rueful grin. "I already had _the talk_ with Charlie just now."

Just as before, the boys were surprised to find out that the Xavier's had another sibling. They inspected the new girl warily, unsure of how to react to the new person thrown into the mix. It didn't take long for them to relax, though, as she joined them, helping Raven with the tour.

At least she wouldn't get bored around the house anymore with so many… _interesting_ guests.

* * *

**A/N:** For anyone that's noticed Moira's absence in this chapter, I actually decided not to have her join them in Westchester. With so many interactions already between Ana and her siblings and Erik, I just really didn't want to deal with Charles' budding relationship with the agent. Hope you guys don't mind.

As you can see, Ana and Erik didn't really have the best first meeting, ehehehe. There's going to be more interaction in the next chapter, so stay tuned. ;)

And remember, reviews are a writer's fuel!


	4. Chapter 4

**The Evolution Theory**

_Quick author's note: You guys are all wonderful! I honestly didn't expect the amount of followers for this story, especially when you look at the amount of OC fanfics in this fandom. Thank you for the support and here's the next instalment of Ana's 'first class' experience, hehe. Uber cheesy, I know._

_Another short chapter, I know, my apologies._

**CHAPTER FOUR**

The day passed by pretty quickly with Raven and the others filling her in on most of the details that Charles hadn't had time to share with her earlier, and before long, the others had retired to their rooms. After the events of the previous week, they were exhausted and revelled in the thought of spending a quiet night in a comfortable bed.

Since she didn't have the same problem, having slept peacefully till noon, she wandered into the kitchen to find something edible. It was already around eight in the evening and with everything that had happened; she'd forgotten to actually eat something.

Luckily, the kitchen was deserted and while it wasn't fully stocked, she managed to scrape together enough to make herself a sandwich. Just as she was bent over to grab some things out of the fridge, she heard footsteps nearing and figured one of the other youngsters had ventured down as well due to a grumbling stomach.

Smiling brightly, she righted herself and turned to greet the person. As soon as she spotted the figure in the doorway, though, the corners of her mouth dropped into a frown.

"Oh," she deadpanned, not having any scruples about letting her displeasure seep into her tone. "It's you."

Erik put his hands up beside his head in a gesture of peace, a half grin tugging at his lips. "Expecting someone else?"

"Well, you never know nowadays in the Xavier household," she grumbled, laying the items on the counter and tearing open a packet of turkey slices with more force than necessary. "Apparently anyone is welcome."

She heard him move further into the kitchen, nearer to her place at the counted. "Really? Because I don't feel entirely welcome."

He sounded somewhat cautious, but she refused to placate the man that had basically attacked her that very morning. He hadn't uttered any apologies then, so he couldn't feel too bad about the incident.

Without actually looking at him, she rolled her eyes, cutting a tomato into thin slices. "My, your powers of observation are remarkable. Is that your other superpower?"

Her thinly veiled hostility was not enough to drive him away, unfortunately, for he was now standing not two feet from her. Prom her peripheral vision, she could see him leaning his hip against the counter as he watched her work. His close proximity, not to mention silence, was unnerving.

It took all of twenty seconds for her to finally heave a frustrated sigh and look up at the man. He'd shed his leather coat, revealing a dark blue turtleneck underneath that fit rather snug and left surprisingly little to the imagination. The man had quite a narrow waist to offset his broad shoulders, she noted absentmindedly. His hands were stuffed into his pockets, drawing the attention down to his flat stomach and long legs.

She would really enjoy him marching those out the front door. Bastard.

Meeting his eyes, she could see a smugness there that told her that she had indeed been caught checking him out, albeit briefly, and cursed herself. Even if he hadn't assaulted her earlier, she was sure that she would've disliked him anyway. There was just something about the man that rubbed her the wrong way.

"Is there something I can help you with?" she asked sharply, giving him the cold shoulder and busied herself by retrieving a skillet from the cupboard at her knees.

"I was actually a bit hungry so I thought I'd see what I could find in the kitchen."

She proceeded to heat the skillet on the stove and put her sandwich in while completely ignoring the man next to her. He didn't plan on making it easy for her, though.

"We haven't actually been introduced properly, I realize," he started, voice low as he pulled her attention back to him. "I fear we've gotten off on the wrong foot."

"Or in my case, all fours," she grumbled before realizing her slip as the smirk on his face grew exponentially.

"And while that normally makes for a very pleasant first acquaintance, I believe we should start over."

Ignoring the slight blush that crept onto her cheeks, Ana just huffed, tossing her hair over one shoulder and keeping a close eye on her sandwich. The move had unintentionally pulled his attention towards her throat and the colourful splotches of blue and purple that marred it.

As she leaned forward to check the stove, she jumped at the sudden feel of a hand on her shoulder, startled by the unexpected contact. Even as she turned her body to face him with a threat of violence on her tongue, the words escaped her as her eyes landed on his.

He wasn't looking at her, or at least, was fully focussed on the bruising, a small frown drawing his brows down.

With one long finger underneath her chin, he gently tipped her head up, allowing him a better view. The angle had her looking straight up into his face and she tried to discern his expression the best she could. He was obviously displeased, and possibly even angry, she determined, reading it in the tightness around his mouth and set jaw.

The proximity had her draw a sharp intake of breath and hold it as her eyes flitted over his features. He had a strong jaw and straight nose with angled cheekbones, and small lines were already showing around his eyes and forehead. They simply seemed to add to his appeal, though, she thought briefly.

As soon as her eyes fell on his, she felt like she would've sucked in a breath if she weren't already holding it. Long, dark lashes framed the most piercing grey eyes she had ever seen and the intensity in them as he studied the bruised skin.

Oh, lord, have mercy, but the man was gorgeous!

The moment had only lasted a mere ten seconds, but in her mind, it was an eternity. When he finally stepped back, she seemed to snap out of the spell she'd found herself in and let the air escape from her lungs.

She tried to pretend as unaffected as possible, quickly grabbing a dishcloth and fiddling with it to keep occupied. She loathed the fact that he'd reduced her to an awkward mess by just a touch and his closeness. She wasn't some scared, little lamb cowering before the wolf, dammit! And most certainly not the type of girl to swoon over every good-looking guy that invaded her personal space. He had, once more, completely disrespected the boundaries any normal, civilized person would adhere to and-

"I apologize."

Chancing a look at him from the corner of her eyes, she saw him leaning back against the counter once more, this time looking decidedly uncomfortable. Even though this was only the second time she'd been in his presence, she couldn't help but feel like it was strangely out of character for the man.

Despite her rather, ahem, assertive attitude, her first instinct was to sooth another's emotional turmoil. Her tough exterior contained a rather mushy centre, unfortunately. It was the reason why her siblings were able to walk all over her, despite her loud protests.

She could also be incredibly selfish, though. And that was the path she chose to follow when it came to Erik's unexpected apology. Her resentment towards him might not be fully justified given that she had been the one to actually brandish the poker as a weapon in the first place, and by what she'd heard about him, he probably lived on full alert of possible dangers lurking about.

Still, his reaction had been rash and resulted in her being bodily harmed. And that was why she kept a firm hold on her dislike of him.

The silence that followed his apology was tense and her lack of response was enough of an answer. In the wake of it, though, her mind did stray to a question that had plaguing her the entire day.

"How did you do that thing with the...," she raised her right hand in the air and did a little wave. "Was that telekinesis or something? Is that your superpower?"

With all of the amazing people surrounding her, not to mention her brother's telepathic skills, it wasn't outside of the realm of possibilities.

His mouth twisted into a half grin. "Not really. You just picked the wrong object to batter me with." At her raised eyebrows, he continued. "I can manipulate electromagnetic fields."

She let his words sink in, thinking of all the ways one could make use of such an ability. Aside from the obvious, the possibilities in a world riddled with metal in all forms, even to a subatomic level... It was astounding. Aside from her dislike of the man, she was impressed. "So I guess I should've gone for my great aunt's glass candle holder, huh?"

At his laughter, she could feel her lips wanting to curl up into a smile, but resisted with all her might, refusing to show him any form of congeniality. Deciding that her sandwich had been grilled to perfection, she grabbed a plate from one of the cupboards and flipped the easy meal onto it. She was starving and the smell was absolutely divine.

As she turned the grab the knife from the counter, she nearly shrieked when it suddenly flew off the granite surface and straight into Erik's waiting hand. He looked rather pleased with himself, which had her instantly peeved. Glaring viciously, she held out her own hand in a silent demand. Instead of handing over the cutlery, though, he brought up his free hand to grasp hers tightly and shook it slowly.

"My name is Erik Lehnsherr, and it's a pleasure to make your acquaintance, miss...," he trailed off, tipping his head down as he waited for her to reply. The smirk on his face told her that he was thoroughly enjoying teasing her.

She toned down the glare but still huffed, turning her nose up at him. Quite a feat, seeing as he was a lot taller than her, but she felt like she'd succeeded nonetheless. "Anabelle Xavier. And I can assure you, the pleasure is_ all yours_."

He had yet to let go of her hand and to her utter dismay, his eyes dropped from hers to travel down her form at leisure. It was certainly not the reaction she'd been aiming for. The smirk on his face turned decidedly shark-like and it made her feel highly uncomfortable as his gaze lingered noticeably on her chest before continuing downwards.

When he reached her legs, the blasted man actually had she audacity to tilt his head to the side, brows lifting in appreciation. "Can't argue with you on that."

Ana could feel a heat rising up her chest and into her cheeks, setting them aflame in anger and indignation. Although she was normally very confident with her figure, proud of having curves in all the right places, she couldn't help the overwhelming urge to cover herself up. She could handle men ogling her, but that moment, she simply felt exposed in a way that had a shudder travel through her body.

His insolence was appalling. Yes, that was it, she was appalled!

Focussing on her anger instead of the discomfort, the girl had just opened her mouth to retort when- "I see you two have buried the hatchet!"

Charles and his superb timing.

He breezed into the kitchen, heading straight for the coffee maker while being completely oblivious to the tension in the room. Looking down at their still joined hands, the blonde drew her lips back into a snarl before snatching the limb back and stealing the knife out of his other hand. "Oh, yes, we're just peachy."

Her sarcastic tone and the shit-eating grin Erik wore went unnoticed by her brother as she cut her grilled sandwich diagonally. It was amazing how oblivious Charles could be for a man that was normally so perceptive. Thank goodness he never invaded his little sister's mind, otherwise he'd have been fully aware of just where she'd like to bury that hatchet…

"She's an absolute delight," Erik drawled from behind her as she turned to grab a glass, his words earning an amused snort from the other man. "If you'll excuse me, I think I'll retire to my room. It's been a long day."

As Charles said his goodbyes, Ana ignored the two while digging around the fridge for a carton of juice. She could hear Erik's footsteps leading him out of the room and up the stairs, only then feeling comfortable enough to return to her previous spot at the counter. The space where her plate had been was empty, though.

Her eyes widened in disbelief as she turned to survey the kitchen before narrowing on the entryway.

That bastard had stolen her sandwich!

She jumped as she was poked in the ribs and turned to see her brother standing next to her, blowing into his coffee cup. His eyes drifted over the bread and condiments still scattered next to her. "Could you be a doll and make me one as well? I'm positively ravenous."

"Un-fucking-believable!" With a frustrated growl, Ana grabbed her juice and simply stormed out the kitchen, booted feet thumping angrily against the hardwood floor. Charles' voice calling after her landed on deaf ears.

"Is that a no, then?"

* * *

The next day wore on without a hitch, to her great relief. She had gone out of the way to avoid Charles and Erik, who were preparing various parts of the house and grounds for the various training sessions.

In the meantime, the youngsters were content to simply relax and mill about, enjoying the sunny weather and stress free environment.

That's how Raven and Ana found themselves laid out on a blanket on the field in front of the house, watching the boys chase each other around in a messy game of football. The flimsy sundresses they had opted to wear gave them a marginal amount of relief from the heat, but they chose a tan over sitting in the shade nevertheless.

They watched in amusement as Hank unsuccessfully tried to block Alex, earning himself a mouthful of dirt as a result. Ana cheered as Alex threw the football down and proceeded to make a victory lap around the other boys, demanding loudly that the other guys admit that he was '_the man_'.

It was hilarious, really, how outmatched Sean and Hank were against the ex-inmate, but they were good sports about it and refused to forfeit the game. They all enjoyed the reprieve from the chaos their life had recently become and it offered them the chance to put what happened with Darwin and Angel out of their minds, if only for a couple of hours.

Still smiling at the boys' silliness, Ana turned onto her stomach and reached for the book next to her. Even as she opened it to the page she'd left off the night before, she felt her sister shift closer to her on the blanket. "So, what do you think?"

Without looking up, the younger blonde countered, "About what?" There was no reply and after a couple of seconds, she sighed and turned to face her sister's giddy grin. "Oh, you mean your shameless mental lovemaking with Wonderboy over there?"

Jerking a thumb in Hank's general direction, she saw Raven taken on an interesting shade of red. Despite it, Raven nodded somewhat shyly, looking back towards the boy in question.

Ana chanced a look over her shoulder at Hank, who had finally managed to wrestle the ball from Sean's arms and was sprinting across the field. "He's cute," she conceded with a shrug. "Kind of reminds me of the puppy we never had as kids."

Thinking on her words, she let out a bark of laughter. "See, that's funny, because he has animal-like feet. Get it?" she snickered at her own joke. "Hairy feet. Puppy. God, I'm hilarious."

Despite Raven's disapproving frown, she couldn't help but chuckle at her sister's antics. "I'm not sure if he thinks of me the same way, though, or just likes me because I'm the first girl to accept his mutation."

A couple of moments later, Alex had almost gotten hold of the football again and Hank quickly swerved to head into their direction. As soon as he looked up and caught sight of Raven watching, though, he stumbled over his own feet and went down like a sack of bricks. Ana roared with laughter, turning bright eyes on her sister. "Oh, believe me, he likes you."

The ball had rolled across the grass towards the girls, coming to a stop at Ana's feet. She turned over to pick it up, only to have a shadow fall over her. A glance upwards revealed that Alex was looming over her, hands outstretched for the ball.

Her mirth had sparked her mischievous side, though, and clutching the item tightly, she slowly rose to her feet. "You want this, Summers?"

The young man's brows rose at the obvious challenge in her tone. Letting his gaze linger on the cleavage she'd created by pressing the ball to her chest, he nodded lazily. "Oh, I certainly do."

Hook, line and sinker. Men were just too easy, mutant or not.

"If you want it so badly," she winked coyly, shifting her stance slightly while his attention was diverted. "Come and get it."

And in the blink of an eye, she'd taken off into the field. It only took the blonde guy a moment to recover before he went after her.

It was obvious that he was humouring her, because while he was undoubtedly a lot faster than her, she stayed ahead of him a good couple of minutes. She dodged left and right and even jumped over Hank at some point, who had decided to keep lounging on the ground while trying to catch his breath.

Alex evidently decided enough was enough. Catching up to her, he snatched her up by her waist and swung her round. The girl was practically gasping with laughter and shortness of breath, but instead of setting her back on the ground, he swung her over his shoulder like she weighed next to nothing.

"Let go of me," she demanded, still winded but wiggling and thumping him on the back nevertheless. She was also fully aware of how her position made her dress ride up the back of her legs and the feel of his calloused hand holding her in place just above the hollow of her knee. "I said, let go, you brutish ass!"

Her shouts and struggles didn't seem to deter him as he languidly made his was back towards her sister before dropping her unceremoniously onto the blanket. She landed on her butt with a grunt, glaring up at him through tousled locks.

"I will get my vengeance, Summers," she growled, grabbing the hem of her dress and tugging it down while he just smiled smugly down at her.

"Looking forwards to it, Xavier," he winked before turning to retrieve the football from where she'd dropped it in the commotion.

Laughter from beside her drew Ana's gaze towards her sister. "Well," Raven began once she'd calmed down enough to shoot her a teasing look. "It seems I'm not the only one who's taken a fancy."

Still trying to straighten the mess her hair had become, Ana just flipped her off and turned back onto her stomach. "Whatever."

She was reaching for her book again when she caught sight of Charles and Erik. They were a good fifty yards away, leaning against the stone balustrade on the front terrace of the house, apparently watching the youngsters' display. Both were dressed down in grey sweats, probably taking a break from whatever they'd been doing down in the basement for most of the afternoon.

Raven followed her gaze and spotted the men as well. "Speaking of hot guys," he muttered, referring to the one that was not related to them. Or, at least, Ana certainly hoped so.

Ana just rolled her eyes and went back to flipping through her book. "Oh, please, my stomach is queasy enough as it is. Stop making me nauseous."

This surprised the other girl, who turned wide eyes on her. "Are you kidding me? You cannot tell me that _you_," she pointed to her sister before aiming her finger towards the house, "Do not find _that_ man drop dead gorgeous. I mean, just look at him!"

"I'd really rather not," Ana grumbled, refusing to look back towards the men. "That has got to be the most arrogant, aggravating ass that I've ever met and I'd rather deck him than neck him."

Her sister's disbelief was almost palpable. "Are we talking about the same Erik?"

"Tall, dark and homicidal over there? About yay high?"

"Look, I know you don't have the best first impression of him-" Ana snorted. "But he's a nice guy, overall. A bit intense at times, but that just adds to that whole mysteriously sexy vibe he's got going on."

Now it was Ana's turn to twist her features in disbelief. "A nice guy? He's insufferable! It's like he's made it his life's mission to piss me off every chance he gets."

Raven's brows rose at that. "Really?"

"Oh, yes, _really_," she mimicked, pitching her voice to sound more like her sister. A thoughtful look crossed the other girl's face, silence descending over them. Ana was glad that her Raven wasn't pressing the matter because the last thing she wanted to do was discuss the man further.

She'd nearly gotten through a full page of her book when the other blonde piped up again.

"He's sex on legs, though."

"Shut up, Raven."

* * *

**A/N:** Unfortunately, I'm kept pretty busy with real life so there's not much time left to write. I will not be abandoning the story, though, and you can expect updates if people keep liking the fic!

Reviews most certainly help speed the process along ;). Thanks again!


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